This invention relates to processing application data for storage in a shared pool of configurable resources. More specifically, the invention relates to evaluating data, quantifying the costs for storing the evaluated data, and selection of both a storage format and storage location based upon evaluation of the application data.
Cloud computing is a model of service delivery for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computer resources, e.g. networks, network bandwidth, servers, processing, memory, storage, applications, virtual machines, and services, that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or interaction with a provider of service. One of the characteristics of cloud computing infrastructure is that applications can be launched from a plurality of locations and generate data to be stored in one of a plurality of locations within the infrastructure. Several factors drive the decision to store application data in a specific data center within the infrastructure, including availability, user location, disaster awareness, and available facilities.
A storage system provides access to information that is stored on one or more storage devices connected to the storage system. Access to the information is possible by organizing the storage devices into volumes, which logically organize the information stored on the storage devices. The storage system may be further configured to operate according to a client/server model of information delivery to thereby allow many clients to access data containers stored on the system. Each client may request the services of the storage system by issuing file-based protocol messages to the system over the network. A plurality of storage systems may be interconnected to provide a storage system environment configured to service many clients. Each storage system may be configured to service one or more volumes, wherein each volume stores one or more data containers. The relationship between increase storage demand and commodity storage device capabilities is inversely proportional in that as the load of storage increases on the storage system, network bandwidth, storage capabilities and computer power decrease. Accordingly, there is a need to accommodate the burdens of storage devices while taking advantage of the storage space available in the shared pool of resources.